Croatia

Sarajevo to Dubrovnik via Mostar
Dubrovnik and Kotor.

Wet and raining and not that warm.

So another day on the road. We head to Dubrovnik in Croatia. About 3 hours into journey we stop at Mostar, which is famous for the locals jumping off the bridge.

It was a very quick stop only an hour, which was no where near enough to walk though the old street, catch the locals jumping from the bridge and eat lunch. It was also raining and made the walking very slippery on the cobblestones. Very disappointing that it was so rushed. Could not stop to look at any of the market.

Got into Dubrovnik late afternoon. Given key to room and after having relatively small rooms in previous hotals hit the jackpot in a villa. 2 bedrooms, large bathroom, view to the hill with all the terrace houses.

Unfortunately most of the others just got standard rooms so we got ribbed about being treated like royalty. We were pretty happy as this was a three night stay.

Went to supermarket and got french stick, meat, pate etc and sat outside our villa relaxing.

Next day into old township.

Sun is out and a lovely warm day.

We have dropped out of the walking tours, partly due to my feet, standing still while the guide is talking about the history, is a killer. Also we find that the walking tours are about 2 hours and that much history is an overload , so you don't remember what they have said anyway. This also gives us the extra time to wander at our own leisure and see more.

So in the case it meant we were up on the wall by 9.30am. Took over an hours just to walk the southern, sea side, of the wall. Came down to walk around the streets, have lunch etc. We found a nice quite side ally Brian had local oysters and I had Sushi. Back to the bus and had some free time by the pool before heading out to tea.

Our tea destination was about 40mins away. Up into the hills where we went to a locals home. We started with home made brandy, peices of bacon cooked over open flame. This was on their little terrace. They then played music and got everyone up to do some traditional dancing. Went inside for meal of different meats and potatoes , plenty of red wine (if thats what you drank) followed by marble cake. Very basic food but that is how they live and it was a geat experience to visit their home.

Unfortunately the rain came in and as the bus was parked 500 meters away, we all had to make a dash back.

Next day was another full day travelling down to Kotor, which is in Montenegro and is UNESCO world heritage. So another border crossing. Amazing coastal views, very picturesque. We did a very small boat trip out to little island with a very tiny church.
The walls had many painting which was done by a young man who was only 21 when he finished the church.

From there into Kotor, great town, little alleyway, market square lots of shops and eating places for the tourist. Large criuse ships dock here so can get very crowded. Again would have liked more time. The others who did the walking tour had very little free time. So again glad we dropped out. Rain came in again so umbrellas up for walk back to bus.

Back at hotel and we topped up our supplies for tea. Invited Tim and Tina over and had a few drinks with them.

Next morning was 9.15 start to move onto Split. Brian's hand was red and swollen and in pain (gout) so he didn't want to go to breakfast but was going to walk to the chemist for pain killers. I went to breakfast and sat with Steve, who told me he had to go to hospital emergency during the night, ask him details, said it was only 5 mins away and was treated quickly. Rushed back to room, told Brian, got cab, saw doctor within 10mins once we found the correct area, gave

our travel documents , got a prescription, taxi to chemist, and back for leaving time, about 1 hour all up. So very happy as the drugs took effect and relieved the pain, although swelling taking a little longer.